Recently, we got a chance to talk with Mr. Jameel Sooraj, the Managing Director and Founder of Special Equipment Supplies & Mechanical Contracting (SESMC) LLC. He is an ambitious leader and an exceptional entrepreneur with productive experience in the petroleum construction industry.
Jameel aims to lead SES towards exceptional growth. He is a team-oriented person who focuses on providing unparalleled high-quality products to clients through SESMC. Furthermore, the entire team at SESMC even performs a qualifying process to provide high-quality products.
With consistency, hard work, integrity, and transparency, Jameel and his team work dedicatedly towards providing client satisfaction and achieving greater business goals.
Learn more about Mr. Jameel and SESMC through our interview below.
Explain the background of you and the company in detail.
I started SES 20 years ago, and since then, I have learned a lot in my field. My career in the Petroleum construction industry began as a professional procurement in 1998. That was the kickstart in my career journey. Soon after that, I started my own company. “If you have a passion for work and maintain consistency, you can attain your goals through hard work.” That’s what I believe.
I completed my MBA in Finance & Marketing from Vinayaka Mission’s Research Foundation University. The key skills that I have achieved over the years are in supply chain and distribution. In addition, I am a strong negotiator with good people management skills.
Through SESMC, I want to provide the highest quality products to our customers. Hence, we ensure that we go through the best qualifying process for checking the products. We provide energy and industrial products, engineered equipment packages, and solutions.
What are your goals?
We aim to improve our business quality through dedication and hard work. Teamwork is crucial, and so is productivity within the team. That’s why I focus on improving the productivity among the employees at SESMC to attain exceptional business growth.
Not only that, but we are also on the way to developing creative marketing strategies and programs to enhance visibility and build our brand. We are also planning to expand our business to new territories in the coming times for that purpose.
In addition, we adapt to the latest technologies and innovative business strategies to reduce our operating expenses and ensure that the company is headed towards the right direction.
What do you feel is the biggest strength of yourself/company right now?
As an individual, I feel that my biggest strengths would be that I am hardworking and have analytical thinking and multi-tasking skills. Not only that, but I can also work under pressure. Along with that, my problem-solving and people management skills also help me to work smoothly.
In terms of the company’s strengths, our key human resources, teamwork, and goodwill are the key strengths. Furthermore, our expertise and experience in the market help us stand out and grow. In addition, even our excellent clients and supplier partners help us become better. Our series of successful completion of projects motivates us to work harder and focus on our goals.
What was the path you/your company took to get to where you are today?
Hard work, honest and transparent approach to our client and supplier partners. Bringing the latest technology into the market.
Why did you start (or want to be the head of) this company?
Business has been a passion for me since a very young age. I started my career in UAE in the petroleum industry, and from there, I learned more about material procurement and supply chain. Hence, I decided to start my own supply company to use my learnings and skills efficiently.
What have been the biggest challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Getting the right resources for running the business is the biggest challenge I have ever overcome. Cash flow and financial management, the right system, skills, and attitude are some other things that I had to focus on.
Give us one word that describes you the best.
Passionate, dynamic, and ambitious.
What makes you excited about Mondays?
Monday is no different than any other day of the week. Nothing about it makes it stand out more or less unique than any other day.
All of us are born to work for a while before getting to where we want. Working keeps us afloat while we are sailing towards our ultimate life goals. Hence, there is no reason why that must be a dreadful reality. Keep your happy face on, everybody! Cherish Mondays and be yourself.
What do you value most about your culture and vision?
In our company, the entire team sees their colleagues as friends. It helps to create a better work environment where all of us can work together more positively. We have long-term employees, so everyone with good workplace involvement, which helps us get to know each other better.
Transparency is our core value, and we also have clear missions and values. We believe in diversity in the workplace, and not only that, but our comfortable workspace allows the team to work more productively.
Tell us about a project that forced you to be innovative and creative.
We did several innovative projects with our clients who are in Robotics, Sustainability, etc. Those projects helped us to think creatively from a different perspective and work innovatively.
What are the strategies of your company, and how do they stand unique from your competitors?
Client satisfaction is a crucial thing, and we prioritize it. At SES, we focus on delivering extraordinary customer service. We provide high-quality products with superior service. Honesty about products and services is something that we emphasize, and all of it makes us different from our competitors.
We stand out through our creative and unique approach to business, where we also focus on a narrow niche. Not only that, but we also embrace corporate social responsibility, which adds more to our uniqueness.
What are the key values that helped you overcome the roadblocks/challenges in your career?
Some of the key values that helped me overcome the challenges include:
- STAYING HUMBLE.
- HAVING SELF-CONFIDENCE.
- DEALING WITH STRESS AND ANXIETY.
- KEEPING THE TEAM INSPIRED AND MOTIVATED.
- MANAGING PEOPLE AND RESOURCES
- DEVELOPING MY OWN SKILLS
- MAKING THE HARD DECISION
- KEEPING EVERYONE ON THE SAME PAGE
- DEALING WITH CONFLICT
- STAYING POSITIVE
- BEING CLEAR AND HONEST
- KEEPING IT HUMAN
- DEVELOPING MY DECISION FRAME
- PRIORITIZING EFFORTS
- CREATING A SAFE ENVIRONMENT FOR OUR TEAM
How do you see the company changing in two years, and how do you see yourself creating that change?
I love thinking about what the future of SESMC should look like. It is constantly in the back of my mind as I think about decisions we make with our clients, our investments, our team, and the culture we want to be building internally. Every year I present a 3-year picture of where I see the company heading.
There are several goals I see as important to our future. These goals include: winning a “best place to work,” receiving the highest level of partner recognition from our supplier partners, and increasing our trust and respect with our clients in the local & international market by earning partner relationships with over 50 agencies.
As I continue to lead the company and provide a vision for its future, I hope to find great people who want to help our company accomplish these ambitious goals. It will take a lot of work to get to where we want to go. I’m confident that with our current team and continuing to bring in high-caliber individuals, we’ll be able to achieve those goals, among many others.
Where is your leadership going? What benefits do your clients get from your company in this competitive world?
As a leader, I implement the vision and values of our company, work on it with the team, and lead our company to success. I look forward to boosting morale in our employees to get the motivation to work more productively.
Communication is the key to success. Hence, I ensure that there is effective communication, both with the employees and clients. Whether it’s providing motivation or appropriate resources to grow, I always focus on helping my employees.
Benefits for our clients
Our business is all about adding value to the customer. In addition, we spend a lot of time looking at our businesses’ monetary/commercial aspects. We manage it; we analyze it; we understand it. We try to read it as granular and effectively away as possible.
In addition, we introduced high-tech companies that can add value to our customers in the field of sustainability and the latest technologies that will benefit our customers.
What are the services/solutions or products offered by your company on par with the current industry standards? Tell us something about your upcoming products or services?
We are into equipment supplies and specialized services in the energy sectors; we supply engineered products under mechanical, electrical, instrumentations, steel, chemicals, and PPE commodities. In addition, we also provide fabrication services and specialized engineering services to the energy industries.
Connect with Jameel Sooraj on LinkedIn!